Pip woke me at 4.45am, as she often does around then or soon after, presumably she wants to do her toilet thing. I don't hesitate to get up, the dog has never peed inside in my recollection and nor do I want such happening. Besides I'm ready for a pee myslf so outside we go.
Mind you I'm a bit dopey as I put on gumboots at the back door and walk to the shed to put out Pip's breakfast, prepared the night before. Usually by the time I have done this and my wee, she is there hungry and into breakfast. Not so this morning. I stood and waited in the early grey light, whistled, listened and waited. There's often traffic on the main road at that hour, you can hear the cars coming from a long distance away and I sympathise with these poor buggers that have to be travelling at that time to work who knows where. Sometimes I can hear Pip moving about in the crunchy dry leaves on the ground.
I had to wait a couple of minutes till she turned up, then she just stood and looked at her food with no interest in eating it. Now this is not all that unusual for her. She sometimes goes off her food for a day or so, wants to go in and out of the house a lot, and we figure she has a mild digestive problem which soon passes. But today it worried me, I'm a bit toey after the snake bite thing just a couple of weeks back. Could it be possible that she'd bitten again in the couple of minutes that she'd been out in the garden toileting? I believe snakes do hunt at night and the way March is going nothing would surprise me. I was not about to ring Tom the vet at 5am unless there was more dramatic obvious reason so I went back inside to bed and Pip went to hers in the office. But she didn't stay there. I could hear her nails as she walked up and down the wooden steps. Up again I put a lead on her and we went outside. She had no inclination to do anything but stand sit at my feet. As I patted her she quivered a bit. My anxiety was not eased.
We went back inside. I put her compression jacket on. Maybe she was unsettled by atmospheric factors that she senses well before we hear thunder. There were storms forecast for today. She went up to our bed and lay there which she does usually after I have got up the second time to start my day proper. She likes to sleep where I sleep when I'm not there. I put books or such what on my pillow so she's on the doona not the sheets.
It is now 7.30am I have been doing some things on the computer since 6. She has come out a couple of times but I just checked and she's lying curled looking peaceful. I would think I can forget the 2nd snakebite possibility. Surely symptoms would have developed had that been so? Am I becoming a bit of a nervous wreck? No, not quite, but yes, I'm edgy.
I stayed home yesterday due to the blocked pipe drama. A plumber came about 5pm and put his screw worm jigger thing through the pipe and touch wood that is also now behind me.
Now I'm worried that that an airB+B I've prepaid for a future holiday is a scam. I told RR about it on Saturday and he told me of his experience last year of booking and paying an airBB in Darwin to go to a wedding, only to find the owner cancelled him the day prior. This bloke had done this many times and multiple booked his place and pocketed the money with the customers left with nowhere to stay. RR said he would never do AirBB again, after this incident when he then had to pay through the nose for scarce availability accomm for multiple people for multiple nights.
I think my nervousness about this was not helped by an incident yesterday. I went up to the top our drive to put a sign up so the plumber could find us easily. I have an old cast iron kettle that sits on a tree stump near the top of the drive. I use this to rest the sign on in the street when I know someone is coming. The plumber rang and said he was delayed so I went up the street to shop and as I drove out I saw that someone had knocked off the kettle and the sign was lying flat on the ground. This in our little dead end street. I'd only put it out about half an hour earlier. And there's been press about looters working in these fire areas where people who have evacuated have been robbed.
Yes I'm edgy.
Tuesday, March 05, 2019
Monday, March 04, 2019
Mad March
We may be only four days in but the indications are dreadful. On Friday 1 Mar, it was about 40C. I worked hard picking much foliage in the heat. At about 2.30pm a thunderstorm pronounced itself with great vigour while I was home bunching and having a cup of tea after busily picking and before going to the farm.
Pip went nuts with the thunder, It was strange, there didn't seem to be any clouds. I later looked, there was some moving away but it was violent thunder. Ten minutes or so later the fire sirens went off and I could smell smoke so I knew lightning had started a fire reasonably close by. I knew from the sirens they were onto it, but I took Pip with me when I left for the farm just in case.
In any case that dry storm was what started the Bunyip State Park fires which have raged since then. Helicopters have been flying over our house at regular intervals for three days, presumably some dropping water on the fire and others assessing. I have felt quite safe, despite the unnerving sight of billowing smoke to the east. We are on the western edge of all that bush, and the prevailing breeze has been away from us. Just the same we've been anxious, as anybody would be.
Now today, yesterday actually as I'm up past midnight, the shit hit the fan. Rickyralph visited this morning, all good, me relaxing after Friday heat and Satuday repeat. Still 38-40C. Then I went to the can, flushed it, bowl filled to brim before slowly emptying. Hello I thought to myself, a problem. I was prompted by this to clean the grease trap as a starting point, knowing it was overdue. It did not improve the situation so I went under the house to an inspection point in the pipe to the septic tank. The main pipe from the toilets was leaking, meaning it was full and held some pressure, there was a blockage somewhere. I took the cap of the inspection point, predictably shit and water and paper spewed out which I was expecting having gone down this track a couple of decades ago. I put the cap back on and tried the toilet but no change, just gurgling and slow release of water. So obviously blockage was other side of the inspection point, between it and septic tank, and now probably an air lock to boot. I knew there was another inspection point top side of the septic tank so I started to dig and after some careful digging so as not to damage the pipe I found it. No amount of putting hose up pipe, or down the other way from the point under the house (yes I took the cap of again and more stuff spewed out, by this time it was quite muddy and shitty under there) would clear the blockage so I gave up, slashed a couple of sherrys and thought well it looks like I'll have to find a plumber tomorrow.
I went inside and had a bath and then a roast dinner of chicken. Gord had a bath late at night, pulled the plug, then realized the water from the bath was going back into the shower then overflowing onto the floor. Lots of towels by me cleaning up. Then, Gord called out, he'd gone up to the other bathroom, to find sullage flooding into the shower, this brown in colour and stinking and obviously full of faeces.
I was almost out of my tree by now. You can imagine the clean up, bearing in mind that the pipes are regurging and we can't use the bathrooms or toilets. Pardon my bad language, no I will restrain, FMD.
I'll try to find a plumber tomorrow. If this is an indicator of a mad March to follow Freaky February God help me.
Pip went nuts with the thunder, It was strange, there didn't seem to be any clouds. I later looked, there was some moving away but it was violent thunder. Ten minutes or so later the fire sirens went off and I could smell smoke so I knew lightning had started a fire reasonably close by. I knew from the sirens they were onto it, but I took Pip with me when I left for the farm just in case.
In any case that dry storm was what started the Bunyip State Park fires which have raged since then. Helicopters have been flying over our house at regular intervals for three days, presumably some dropping water on the fire and others assessing. I have felt quite safe, despite the unnerving sight of billowing smoke to the east. We are on the western edge of all that bush, and the prevailing breeze has been away from us. Just the same we've been anxious, as anybody would be.
Now today, yesterday actually as I'm up past midnight, the shit hit the fan. Rickyralph visited this morning, all good, me relaxing after Friday heat and Satuday repeat. Still 38-40C. Then I went to the can, flushed it, bowl filled to brim before slowly emptying. Hello I thought to myself, a problem. I was prompted by this to clean the grease trap as a starting point, knowing it was overdue. It did not improve the situation so I went under the house to an inspection point in the pipe to the septic tank. The main pipe from the toilets was leaking, meaning it was full and held some pressure, there was a blockage somewhere. I took the cap of the inspection point, predictably shit and water and paper spewed out which I was expecting having gone down this track a couple of decades ago. I put the cap back on and tried the toilet but no change, just gurgling and slow release of water. So obviously blockage was other side of the inspection point, between it and septic tank, and now probably an air lock to boot. I knew there was another inspection point top side of the septic tank so I started to dig and after some careful digging so as not to damage the pipe I found it. No amount of putting hose up pipe, or down the other way from the point under the house (yes I took the cap of again and more stuff spewed out, by this time it was quite muddy and shitty under there) would clear the blockage so I gave up, slashed a couple of sherrys and thought well it looks like I'll have to find a plumber tomorrow.
I went inside and had a bath and then a roast dinner of chicken. Gord had a bath late at night, pulled the plug, then realized the water from the bath was going back into the shower then overflowing onto the floor. Lots of towels by me cleaning up. Then, Gord called out, he'd gone up to the other bathroom, to find sullage flooding into the shower, this brown in colour and stinking and obviously full of faeces.
I was almost out of my tree by now. You can imagine the clean up, bearing in mind that the pipes are regurging and we can't use the bathrooms or toilets. Pardon my bad language, no I will restrain, FMD.
I'll try to find a plumber tomorrow. If this is an indicator of a mad March to follow Freaky February God help me.
Freaky February
Monday18 Feb our little dog Pip was bitten by a snake. We didn't see this event. I was home, no orders to pick, oddly, so I was catching up on bookwork and waiting for Gord to come home from his dentist app. When he did come home, about 1pm, I heard him say, "There's something wrong with Pip."
Lib was on the deck reading a book, and I was inside at the computer. I went out to find Pip panting, salivating and quivering. Her whole body was tensed, she was greatly distressed. I took her straight up the street to the vet. Fortunately a lady vet Belinda was in attendance, she said straight away, "This looks like a snakebite." I had thought maybe Pip had eaten some snail pellets I had put out on some broccolli seedlings the day before.
There was no way of knowing until the result of patholoy blood test came the next day if in fact it was snake bite, by which time it would be too late, she would have died. I gave them permission to administer antivenin, which they promptly did. When I enquired later by phone I was told she had an amazingly quick response to the injection and was doing well, but would need to be kept for a couple of days to monitor progress. How lucky were we, firstly that we were right there, secondly that there was a vet in attendance two minutes away, and thirdly that they had the antivenin on hand which I believe is not always the case.
Beautiful little Pip has survived and it seems fully recovered.
But February amazed for many things. Reknowned horse trainer Darren Weir was suspended for three years. Over a decade I had watched his career explode to be Victoria's most successful and perhaps Australia's leading trainer. Then suddenly gone.
February also saw Cardinal Bill Pell found guilty of sex crimes against minors and jailed. What can I say about that, given my position of not knowing the truth? But the jury found him guilty, that I do know. And there's anecdotal evidence going back two decades before these crimes were alleged, that Pell as a senior in the Ballarat diocese, covered up similar criminal activity by paedophile priests in northern and western Victoria for many years. Thes priests were ultimately found guilty also, the evidence eventually overwhelming.
The floods in North Qld apparently wiped out the cattle industry. I have listened to the appeals for the Australian government to assist in its rebuilding. I have serious doubt as to the validity of this. When I visited my mate Dave Dickson at a property west of Charters Towers some years ago where he worked on a cattle station as a property caretaker. He said to me me then, "I don't know why they raise and farm cattle here, it's not good for cattle, they struggle and it's hard. But fruit trees grow so well, and with plentiful bore water you can grow almost anything." He loved his garden and his plantation was a veritable oasis. So my thought is, Why would you rebuild the cattle industry there when history has shown that it will be destroyed again by flood?
Now despite the above mentioned surprises of February, of greater alarm to me is the front page of the Pakenham Gazette of mid Feb. Officially, due to EPA restrictions, Cardinia Council has no way of dealing with our recyclable rubbish and it's all going to landfill now. I'm disgusted. All our efforts to diligently sort our refuse, in my case to the extent of collecting all plasic bottletops and putting them in a plastic container till it's full, likewise with metal tops into tin cans, seem to have been useless. how pathetic is this? Our managers, planners and governments have been and are appallingly negligent. It defies my understanding. My thought is- if it can't be recycled, reused, or biodegraded easily, its manufacture should be banned. No exceptions, ifs, buts or maybes. Banned. Outlawed. at present we are trashing the planet to the detriment of those to follow.
What about the massive fish kill in the Darling River?
Freaky February.
,
Lib was on the deck reading a book, and I was inside at the computer. I went out to find Pip panting, salivating and quivering. Her whole body was tensed, she was greatly distressed. I took her straight up the street to the vet. Fortunately a lady vet Belinda was in attendance, she said straight away, "This looks like a snakebite." I had thought maybe Pip had eaten some snail pellets I had put out on some broccolli seedlings the day before.
There was no way of knowing until the result of patholoy blood test came the next day if in fact it was snake bite, by which time it would be too late, she would have died. I gave them permission to administer antivenin, which they promptly did. When I enquired later by phone I was told she had an amazingly quick response to the injection and was doing well, but would need to be kept for a couple of days to monitor progress. How lucky were we, firstly that we were right there, secondly that there was a vet in attendance two minutes away, and thirdly that they had the antivenin on hand which I believe is not always the case.
Beautiful little Pip has survived and it seems fully recovered.
But February amazed for many things. Reknowned horse trainer Darren Weir was suspended for three years. Over a decade I had watched his career explode to be Victoria's most successful and perhaps Australia's leading trainer. Then suddenly gone.
February also saw Cardinal Bill Pell found guilty of sex crimes against minors and jailed. What can I say about that, given my position of not knowing the truth? But the jury found him guilty, that I do know. And there's anecdotal evidence going back two decades before these crimes were alleged, that Pell as a senior in the Ballarat diocese, covered up similar criminal activity by paedophile priests in northern and western Victoria for many years. Thes priests were ultimately found guilty also, the evidence eventually overwhelming.
The floods in North Qld apparently wiped out the cattle industry. I have listened to the appeals for the Australian government to assist in its rebuilding. I have serious doubt as to the validity of this. When I visited my mate Dave Dickson at a property west of Charters Towers some years ago where he worked on a cattle station as a property caretaker. He said to me me then, "I don't know why they raise and farm cattle here, it's not good for cattle, they struggle and it's hard. But fruit trees grow so well, and with plentiful bore water you can grow almost anything." He loved his garden and his plantation was a veritable oasis. So my thought is, Why would you rebuild the cattle industry there when history has shown that it will be destroyed again by flood?
Now despite the above mentioned surprises of February, of greater alarm to me is the front page of the Pakenham Gazette of mid Feb. Officially, due to EPA restrictions, Cardinia Council has no way of dealing with our recyclable rubbish and it's all going to landfill now. I'm disgusted. All our efforts to diligently sort our refuse, in my case to the extent of collecting all plasic bottletops and putting them in a plastic container till it's full, likewise with metal tops into tin cans, seem to have been useless. how pathetic is this? Our managers, planners and governments have been and are appallingly negligent. It defies my understanding. My thought is- if it can't be recycled, reused, or biodegraded easily, its manufacture should be banned. No exceptions, ifs, buts or maybes. Banned. Outlawed. at present we are trashing the planet to the detriment of those to follow.
What about the massive fish kill in the Darling River?
Freaky February.
,
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